The Drowned Girl - David Mark

I've reviewed a lot of David Mark's books: twenty on this blog in fact. That fact alone should say something about what I think about the quality of his writing, but the flipside of that is that you worry that it becomes more difficult to find the words to do him justice, as he is not yet near as famous, rich and celebrated bestseller writer of crime thrillers as he deserves to be. It’s almost as if I am a powerless blogger who has little influence over the tastes of the genre and literary world! David Mark on the other hand never stops or repeats himself, so there is  no reason for me to give up either, particularly as his latest book, The Drowned Girl, demonstrates all of the qualities that make his writing so thrilling; so let's try again and hope that maybe just a few more people will take notice.

The qualities that are evident in all aspects of his writing are right from the outset in The Drowned Girl, which as principally a literary thriller writer (I think I might have hit on part of the problem there), often involves a lot of nasty characters and some dark brutal imagery as it veers down some dark places (dwelling on those aspects probably doesn't help either). What should be even more immediately apparent is that Mark's writing is never formulaic. He has his own themes, but his subjects and style are distinct from other writer. The plots are gripping and puzzling - which is essential - the characterisation is involving to the extent that even the nastier people are intriguing and get under your skin, but for me personally it's the poetry of his descriptions and the originality of his observations that elevate his writing to another level.

He brings those talents to bear to spectacular effect in The Drowned Girl on a recurrent feature in his work; families. There are all sorts of complex connections that can exist between siblings and parents, with dark secrets in the family history that no one talks about. That might not sound like an original theme, but it's a human one (another crucial factor) that involves love, trust, a sense of belonging or indeed a sense of mistrust, hatred and alienation. Probably both at different times, or even together at the same time. The position of Moses Crow in the Rinkov-Torsney family, it being David Mark writing, lies in just such a complex area where those sentiments are somewhat difficult to define, even for Moses himself.

In care from a young age, a bit of a problem child, the Rinkov-Torsney family adopted Moses, since he was a discovered as a founding on a river on their estate (hence the name) or more accurately fostered him, cared for him and loved him. Cari and Andrei became Mother and Father and treated him as one of their own, which alone came with its own problems. Their relationship became more complicated when one of their sons died and as Mother was unable to process the loss, the family took in Moses as something of a 'substitute' son until they felt he was no longer 'needed'. As you can imagine, that's going to mess up a child badly.

And indeed it's not going well for Moses as an adult who, having previously served six years in a notorious Spanish prison some time ago, is again in serious trouble with some bad people who have recently burned down his home and destroyed his recording studio over some debts. And it looks like they are still after him and seem intent on killing him. With too much history behind them, Moses is reluctant to turn to the Rinkov-Torsneys for help, although he still loves them and desperately wants to feel part of the family. When another suspicious death occurs in the family circle however, it brings him back to the family home at a time when he has his own serious troubles pursuing him.

The death, as you might have gathered from the title, is that of a girl drowned in a nearby quarry used for wild swimming that has a bit of a bad reputation and unpleasant memories for Moses. Oxana was the 'companion' of Andrei, the now aging but still formidable Father figure to Moses. David Mark brings in horror elements of old Slavic folk tales and underwater creatures with a troubled family who feel themselves cursed. And some have made their troubles for themselves, or made them worse. It's a rich brew that is lean but not spare, every element working in the controlled coordination of a master thriller writer, pushing those buttons to elicit maximum effect, horror, disgust and poignancy from every scene.

I thought it should be obvious by this stage, but I still don't think I've managed to convey what is so good about David Mark's writing other than maybe just suggest that The Drowned Girl is well plotted, has several intriguing threads with underlying history and personal issues that are going to get into very dark and explosive territory later. Which is great and the bare minimum you expect from any competent thriller writer. What I again don't seem to be able to do is get across without quoting huge chunks of the book, is the way David Mark makes this work. It's in the flow, in the choice of of words, the originality of observations and poetic descriptions that get to the heart of characters and their situations, subtle insights accumulating towards the bigger picture; a picture of human frailty, weakness and fear and the qualities that help them endure and strive to be better, or just worthy people.

I think 'human' is the key word here - these aren't 'characters' just created to move a plot along (which might be another reason Mark doesn't produce 'bestsellers'), they demonstrate how people behave when placed in challenging situations and the emotional and psychological complications that ensue particularly where family is involved. If it isn't obvious by now, I think The Drowned Girl figures among the best of David Mark's books. I can't do side-by-side comparisons without going back to books like Borrowed Time or Dead Pretty, or even right back to his first book Dark Winter. There's a lot to choose from, but there is every reason to think that David Mark just gets better with each book he writes.

Reading notes: The Drowned Girl by David Mark was published in paperback and eBook formats by Pellerin Books. I picked up the Kindle version and would recommend even just downloading the free sample just to get a feel for the quality of the writing..